Big Year 2017

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Birding Tour

February 1

L- Dr John Webster, Nick Bonomo ,Touring
party Back- Edward Massiah

I was happy to be invited on a birding and historical tour of
the island by Dr. John Webster, as he hosted Edward Massiah and six members of
the Connecticut
Audubon Society, lead by team leader Nick Bonomo, on
their Caribbean Touron board Holland America's Ship MS Noordam. We started just after 9am and travelled along the west
coast pointing out places of interest along the way. Our first birding stop was at The Royal
Westmoreland Resort in the Parish St. James.

Royal Westmoreland

The Royal Westmoreland is a world renowned golf resort with
luxury residents. It is a private gated
community. The center piece of the property is a large man-made lake where a
number of domesticated and wild ducks can be found. But the duck we were all eager to see was a
West Indian Whistling Duck, which was observed on the property about two weeks
ago. We arrived at the lake at about
9:30am and the ducks on display were amazing. We saw a large flock of Black Bellied
Whistling Ducks, a pair of Ruddy ducks, Mallards, Muscovites, Fulvous Whistling
Ducks, and a pretty interesting Wood Duck hybrid. Sadly there were no signs of the West Indian
Whistling Duck. After spending about 30
minutes there we moved inland to our next stop the Landmark Plant Nursery.

Landmark Plant Nursery

At Landmark Plant Nursery, with their lovely plants and
flowers, we were on the lookout for hummingbirds. A section of the property consisted of a
Mahogany woods, this provided the perfect opportunity to see two other
Caribbean endemic birds that prefer that type of habitat, the Caribbean Elaenia
and Black Whiskered Vireo. As we entered
the compound, the visitors were excited to see a pair of Common Ground Doves. As we got further into the nursery, we saw an Antillean
Crested Hummingbird feeding busily on one of the flowering plants. Some of the birds seen were Bananaquits, one
Black-whiskered Vireo and we heard the sweet call of a Caribbean Elaenia. On
leaving the Nursery we travelled north to the hope pond.

Hope Pond

The Hope Pond is located in the parish of St. Lucy to the
north of the island. This is where Dr.
John Webster, Edward Massiah and I released a Masked Duck about two weeks
earlier. This bird would be a lifer for our entire crew, so they were excited
at the prospect of seeing one. Sadly the ducks were not at this location. We moved on to our first Pit stop at the
Animal Flower Cave.

The Animal Flower Cave is located on the most northern edge
of the island. Known for its rugged
cliffs and carved by the powerful waves of the Atlantic Ocean.These waves perform breathtaking water
displays as they meet the land and roar into the air. Even though this was just a bathroom stop we
were hoping we would be lucky and see an early returning Caribbean Martin or
two. We were not disappointed as a
female Caribbean Martin soon came swooping over the cliff to our delight.Another attraction was a flock of Shiny cow-birds,
two females and four males, who were in a perfect position for them to be
photographed.

Our next stop will take us to the other side of the island to
Bayfield Pond in the Parish of St. Philip.

Bayfield Pond

Bayfield Pond is considered the home of the Masked Ducks in
Barbados and after not seeing any at the Hope Pond we were hoping the Ducks
were at home. This small pond nestled in
the heart of the village of Bayfield is surprisingly a sanctuary for these shy
birds.
We arrived at Bayfield at ____ and right away we could have detected the Blue bills
of the male Masked Duck. On further
inspection we saw a total of three males and two females. This made our guest
very happy as this bird was a lifer for all of them.As the time quickly faded away we left Bayfield
with two more stops to make, Chancery Lane and The Graeme Hall Nature
Sanctuary.

Chancery Lane

Because of the time, this stop was a short one. The bird of
interest now was the Little Egret. On the cliff looking over the swamp at
Chancery, with the help of a scope, we were able to see two Little Egrets. We
also saw a Great Egret, Blue Teals and a Yellow Warbler. From Chancery Lane we
drove down the south coast to our last birding stop at the Graeme Hall Nature
Sanctuary.

Graeme Hall Sanctuary was once the main spot for birding on
the island, before it closed its doors, but that is another story. A coffee shop is now operating at the swamp
with access to the park being very much restricted. From the main deck on the front lawn we could
see the main island where the Egrets nest. With the use of the scopes we were able to see
Little Egrets in the process of nesting. Other birds of note were an American Coot, a Blue
Heron and Snowy Egrets. Another attraction at The Graeme Hall Swamp was the
Aviary.Many beautiful birds such as
Flamingos, Scarlet Ibis, Roseate spoonbills, White Cheek Whistling Ducks and
more can be found there.

Egret Islands at Graeme Hall breeding home of the Little Egrets

What a wonderful day we had. Our visitors registered among themselves more
than five lifers, while we saw forty- six species of birds in just over five
hours.